Design

Was designed by Ernst Heinkel. He called it the Swallow. Ernst Heinkel was able to design, build, and launch the Heinkel He 162 in three months, September - December 1944. The requirements were for a fighter that was simple to build and didn't use strategic materials.

The specifications were given to seven companies (Arado, Blohm und Voss, Fieseler, Focke Wulf, Heinkel, Junkers, and Messerschmitt) on September 8, 1944. On September 30 the contract was given to Heinkel.

The Heinkel He 162 was an attempt to design a mass produced Volksjäger "peoples fighter" that would battle the Allied bombers. It was hoped that pilots with little training or experience could fly the He 162. The plan was that Hitler Youth would be given elementary training in gliders. However, it suffered from aerodynamic and structural problems which caused it to be difficult to fly.

Cockpit

The pilot had one of the first ejection seats in an aircraft.

The cockpit had a one piece canopy which gave the pilot an excellent view.

Fuselage

The fuselage was built of metal.

Undercarriage

With the heavy engine mounted above the fuselage and the undercarriage being very narrow made handling on the ground difficult.

Wings

The wings were made primarily of wood with light allow flaps. It was hoped to solve the aerodynamic problems by using turned down wingtips.

Engine

The BMW engine was mounted above the fuselage. This caused the He 162 to be unstable in pitch which caused it to be hard to fly. The placement of the engine also lead to the need for the pilot to use an ejection seat as a parachute could have been caught in the turbojet.

Prototype

The first prototype of the He 162 was completed on December 1, 1944 / December 6 ,1944. The He 162 V1 prototype first flew, from Heinkel's Vienna-Schwechat field, on December 6, 1944, which was 38 days after the detailed drawings were given to the factory. It crashed four days later when the right wing broke up. The crash was the result of faulty gluing.

Production

More than 270 He 162s were produced and over 800 unfinished aircraft were captured.
150 were delivered to the Luftwaffe. 100 were awaiting flight testing. 800 were on in the production line.

It was planned to build 2,000 / 4,000 / 5,000 a month. Construction was to take place in three factories.